My Teenage Years: 1965

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My Teenage Years: 1965

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This was a very exciting time in my life. I had gotten my first job down at the local amusement park and I was saving up for my first vehicle. My first vehicle would be a motorcycle, but it was still a vehicle of sorts. I wanted to get a license as soon as I turned 16 - and I did.

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I did not know it at the time but this first job of mine as a concessionaire was to last for many years into the future. In fact, I was employed as a carnival worker all through my high school and university years, and beyond. Actually, it would be my insurance job when things got tough for me. And, there were going to be very difficult times indeed - however, at this young age I had no idea whatsoever what lay ahead for me.




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I was going through my Brylcream years, Beatles' jackets, corduroy pants and cannot remember if I bought bell-bottom pants, but most likely I did. Anyway, I was just so proud of my bike. It was a Suzuki 80cc motorcycle. It was chain-driven and air-cooled. I saved up for it and it cost me 200 dollars which was a lot of money for a young teenager. I went everywhere with this bike and I even got a bunch of speeding tickets as a consequence of owning this machine. I would even lose my license later on in high school because I was caught driving without a license that was under suspension. Well, a guy needs transportation doesn't he? This is the time when I would just jump on my machine and drive anywhere I wanted to - it was complete freedom for me and I loved every minute of it. I drove in all kinds of weather- sleet, hail, and even snow. Nothing would stop me from driving this bike. I would even drive out to the eastern Fraser Valley just to greet the arctic air as it flowed out from the interior. I remember a big thrill for me and this bike was the purchase of a chrome fender for the front. What a status symbol that was for me. I was so proud of this piece of chrome. I would be driving a motorcycle for many years into the future, including university.

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This was also the time when I started becoming aware of social issues, of things like religion, for example. Something bothered me about the televangelists. Quite frankly, I thought they were phony and that they should not be on the air trying to con people. So, I sent a letter to an American television station in Washington State voicing my disapproval. Someone kindly wrote back and stated that some people appreciated this kind of broadcasting and that the shows would continue. Well, at least I had expressed my concerns on the matter. At any rate, I realized early on that I was not going to be a Christian or associated with any kind of organized religion, or maybe of anything that smacked of authority;

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I was a very rebellious youth actually and I played a lot of hooky from school. I even wrote my own absentee letters since I skipped so many days. One day I got caught and I even got the strap and I had to write all of my grade ten exams. I passed them all of course. We lived in a very small house and just had rabbit ears for our black and white television. My mother was a single parent and she did the best that she could of course. I remember her giving me a book about girls at this time. It talked about sex and reproduction and that kind of thing. I guess this was supposed to be my sex education class or something. I told you earlier about this girl that I liked. Well, I guess I must have been brooding over her or something and my mother took time to notice. She stated that there would be others and of course she was right. Another thing she told me was that ' you don't have to marry the cow to get to get the milk '. I thought was pretty decent advice as well.

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Finally, I just thought I would tell you about one of my hobbies. I collected maps of all of the states in the U.S. I was interested in geography and foreign places. My hobby was to send letters to all of the state capitals and ask for a state map. I told them that I was planning on a visit and naturally they were eager to send me a map of their state. I remember checking the mail everyday to see how many maps I would receive. I remember memorizing all of the state capitals in the U.S. and I can still do that. I was just fascinated about foreign places since I had never really been anywhere before. In fact, when I got my motorcycle I took the ferry to Vancouver Island. And, when I got there I placed some soil in a capsule, just to say that I had finally been somewhere.

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Here is the kind of music that I liked in 1965

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Hermans Hermits -

Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter

1965

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